2013 Bontrager Race X Lite TLR Wheels

Guys, I am looking into getting a new set of wheels for my SF100 SL Elite. It did come with some decent ones but my wife needed a new set so I gave them to her and began my quest for new hoops. Currently I am running some ZTR Flows on Chris King 36h hubs laced to straight 14 gauge spokes. I had the wheels built up when I was a 245 pound hammer. I think you could DH on them, pure wagon wheels. Anyone need a rugged Chris King rear wheel: Paid Spam: Chris King Rear ISO Hub ZTR Flow 29er Wheel - Buy and Sell and Review Mountain Bikes and Accessories

Now I am a 210 pounds, smoother but still aggressive. I need a lighter set of wheels to race on. I was possibly thinking of building up some Light-Bicycle carbon wheels and lacing them to some 32h Kings. However, I can get a decent deal on some Bontrager Race X Lite TLR wheels: Bontrager

The RXL's are light in my book, claiming 840g on the rear and 740g on the front, total = 1580g. They are built up on Bontrager hubs with a DT Swiss 240 ratchet in the rear and "No Rider Weight Restrictions" is listed on the website. I can't find any reviews/good/bad info on these wheels. Has anyone tried them and put them through a good pounding? How durable are the rims? If so, what's your weight and riding style? 28h worries me a little but I could always rebuild them with Light-bicycle carbon wheels if they don't like me...

I am interested in those wheels for my Superfly AL Elite -- they have everything -- I like the off-center spoke bed, and bladed spokes -- even on trails I am often going over 15 mph and aerodynamics have to matter a little.

FWIW I rode a Superfly SL Elite at a factory demo. It had the Race Lite (not RXL) wheels, and they are awesome compared to my Mustangs anyway. You could tell by spinning them by hand that they are light. Felt good and stiff too. It has a lot of engagement points.

The rep said they are coming out with carbon rims for 2014. Sure enough, they now have some on their web site, $1000 per, and not much info. I am hoping that with Specialized having a $1200 carbon set, Trek will be competative. Fortunately I can afford to wait, or to say it another way, I can't afford them now anyway

I have a good friend that has these wheels on his bike and has had no issues with them. Bontrager makes a solid product and they perform very well. I am sure you will have no issues if you choose to buy the RXL wheels.

I have put about 30 miles on the RXL's since I got them Tuesday night. I am quite impressed so far. The rim strips were installed so all I had to do was mount up some tires. I threw some X-King 2.2's on f/r, I am a big fan of the Conti's. They caught the bead with a floor pump no problem. I did have to wrestle a bead into the bead lock channel, soap would have made that easier but none was within reach.

The Bontrager/DT Swiss based hubs look great, I am a fan of the pewter color and aggressive machining of the hub shell. The stock hubs come with the 18 point engagement ratchet. This is a step back coming from King's 72 pt engagement. A 36 pt ratchet is available but I am not sure I care to change. The wheels roll out for quite a while when you give them a spin on the stand. The free-hub is very quiet as well. Although I know I have heard some DT hubs clicking quite loudly while racing. The fresh grease is probably keeping the noise down. I am glad I now have a DT Swiss hub as I can upgrade it to XX1, when/if the cassettes go to a lower rent build. I am not currently interested in the $400 cassette.

Out on the trail the difference in weight was immediate coming from my clydesdale built 36h Chris King/ZTR Flow build. I dropped about two pounds off my bike with these wheels. I assumed coming from 36h Flows that the 28h RXL's might feel flimsy. It was the opposite, they were at least as stiff as the Flows. I went for a 15 mile hard ride last night and they performed extremely well. The cranks feel noticeably lighter, especially climbing and accelerating out of corners. I still brought plenty of pain to my body hammering out that loop, they didn't cure that ailment...What is it they say? "You go faster but it still hurts just as much."

So far I am a big fan of the new Race X-Lite wheels. I will report back after a couple hundred trail/race miles and let you guys know how they hold up.

A 2-lb savings is amazing -- and it sounds to me like you had decent wheels to begin with.

The RLs I rode seemed to have more engagement points then my stock Mustangs. I counted the points on mine and got 16. I doubt I could tell the difference between 16 and 18. Maybe it was crisper engagement.

I wonder why they just don't put the 36-tooth star in everything? I rode a guy's I9s, and engagement was fantastic. You couldn't really feel ANY play until it engaged.

My best guest on why the 18pt engagement comes stock on DT Swiss hubs is because the 18 is more rugged. I have heard the 36pt can't handle as much power due to the smaller teeth in the ratchet. I am sure most riders are not going to max out the 36pt but stronger or heavier riders might. Also, the smaller teeth of the 36pt can't handle as much grit and grime in the event of contamination during a deep stream crossing. There is a chance for hub slippage when dirt gets in. This could be a cause for concern in endurance races/100 milers when the course gets nasty.

Originally Posted by DennisF

A 2-lb savings is amazing -- and it sounds to me like you had decent wheels to begin with.

The RLs I rode seemed to have more engagement points then my stock Mustangs. I counted the points on mine and got 16. I doubt I could tell the difference between 16 and 18. Maybe it was crisper engagement.

I wonder why they just don't put the 36-tooth star in everything? I rode a guy's I9s, and engagement was fantastic. You couldn't really feel ANY play until it engaged.

I wish I came across this post 2 weeks ago as i have a set of these wheels that are the scandium rims that I don't think I'm going to be able to use! Do you have any pics of your wheels? I'm getting different information onto whether or not I can convert these wheels or not. I actually need QR skewers but these are 15 thru axle and 142 x 12 in the rear. If you don't mind me asking, how good of a deal did you get on your set? I may end up needing to sell these and I'm not sure what my asking price should be, they have 2 rides on them.

this is precisely what I'm trying to figure out. The wheels you linked to aren't the ones I have. I have the scandium rims. the hubs are different on the scandium ones. in a perfect world I would be able to switch to the 9mm thru bolt and the rear 135x10 thru bolt and have a 2nd set of wheels to use with my 9mm qr fork and 135x10 frame

I am interested in those wheels for my Superfly AL Elite -- they have everything -- I like the off-center spoke bed, and bladed spokes -- even on trails I am often going over 15 mph and aerodynamics have to matter a little.

FWIW I rode a Superfly SL Elite at a factory demo. It had the Race Lite (not RXL) wheels, and they are awesome compared to my Mustangs anyway. You could tell by spinning them by hand that they are light. Felt good and stiff too. It has a lot of engagement points.

The rep said they are coming out with carbon rims for 2014. Sure enough, they now have some on their web site, $1000 per, and not much info. I am hoping that with Specialized having a $1200 carbon set, Trek will be competative. Fortunately I can afford to wait, or to say it another way, I can't afford them now anyway

I got the Roval carbon wheels for my SF 100 and like them a lot soo much stiffer than my 2010 RXL wheels. The rovals come with adapters for all different axles and DT swiss free hub which I am running XX1. Also lifetime warranty.

No doubt the Roval Carbon wheels are awesome. Definitely a good option to look into, especially the new Control Carbon with no bead hook at $1200 retail. The Control SL's come in around $1700 retail, I believe. I was eyeing up the Control's but had no price incentive to lure me that way. I ride for a Trek shop. Drawbacks for the $1200 Rovals: they are $1200, they come with DT Swiss 350 internals in the rear only (Bonti is 240S F/R) with a Specialized hub in the front.

The RXL's come with all the end caps, weigh around the same (1580 grams), are cheaper, have center lock disc mounts (better IMO) and come with better hubs that are XX1 compatible. The RXL's are impressively stiff. I am 6'6" 215 pounds and put some wattage through my bike, the wheels never flinch.

The RXL's have no warranty per se except that if their is an issue Trek/Bontrager/my dealer always take care of me in any event. Several friends of mine have cracked the Spec Control SL's and Specialized helped them out with crash replacements. They impacted a rock, cracked the carbon and the tubeless system would no longer hold pressure. Aluminum generally dents in those events. Also, I did not want to have to deal with another shop in the issue of a cracked rim. What exactly is a "Lifetime Warranty" on a carbon rim? I am sure Specialized won't keep on giving hoops away for people that impact rocks/roots in the heat of a race, or hard ride. It must be for the event where the hoop fails from stress. Hmmmm...Sounds likes a bad day. FYI, If I can get a good deal on Control Carbons, I will buy them.

Originally Posted by dlennard

I got the Roval carbon wheels for my SF 100 and like them a lot soo much stiffer than my 2010 RXL wheels. The rovals come with adapters for all different axles and DT swiss free hub which I am running XX1. Also lifetime warranty.

No doubt the Roval Carbon wheels are awesome. Definitely a good option to look into, especially the new Control Carbon with no bead hook at $1200 retail. The Control SL's come in around $1700 retail, I believe. I was eyeing up the Control's but had no price incentive to lure me that way. I ride for a Trek shop. Drawbacks for the $1200 Rovals: they are $1200, they come with DT Swiss 350 internals in the rear only (Bonti is 240S F/R) with a Specialized hub in the front.

The RXL's come with all the end caps, weigh around the same (1580 grams), are cheaper, have center lock disc mounts (better IMO) and come with better hubs that are XX1 compatible. The RXL's are impressively stiff. I am 6'6" 215 pounds and put some wattage through my bike, the wheels never flinch.

The RXL's have no warranty per se except that if their is an issue Trek/Bontrager/my dealer always take care of me in any event. Several friends of mine have cracked the Spec Control SL's and Specialized helped them out with crash replacements. They impacted a rock, cracked the carbon and the tubeless system would no longer hold pressure. Aluminum generally dents in those events. Also, I did not want to have to deal with another shop in the issue of a cracked rim. What exactly is a "Lifetime Warranty" on a carbon rim? I am sure Specialized won't keep on giving hoops away for people that impact rocks/roots in the heat of a race, or hard ride. It must be for the event where the hoop fails from stress. Hmmmm...Sounds likes a bad day. FYI, If I can get a good deal on Control Carbons, I will buy them.

Hey all good points and if I worked at a Trek shop I would try the RXLs also. What is retail on them? I got the Rovals because a friend of mine works at a shop and they ended up getting 5 sets instead of 1 so I got a pretty good deal. My 2010 RXL's had horrible hubs and free hub and had a lot of flex ( my weight is 165) so I thought I would try something else.
The Rovals did come with all the end caps, taped, skewers, valve stems and did weigh 1580 with skewers and set up for tubeless.
Glad to see Bontrager is making a good wheel again.

The RXL's are $995 retail. You are running Roval Control SL's correct?

Originally Posted by dlennard

Hey all good points and if I worked at a Trek shop I would try the RXLs also. What is retail on them? I got the Rovals because a friend of mine works at a shop and they ended up getting 5 sets instead of 1 so I got a pretty good deal. My 2010 RXL's had horrible hubs and free hub and had a lot of flex ( my weight is 165) so I thought I would try something else.
The Rovals did come with all the end caps, taped, skewers, valve stems and did weigh 1580 with skewers and set up for tubeless.
Glad to see Bontrager is making a good wheel again.

The RXL's are $995 retail. You are running Roval Control SL's correct?

I got the Roval carbon control with no bead lock that list for $1200 and weighs 1580g with skewers, tape and valve. I thought about the SL $1700 used with a 100 gram less weight, but got a good deal on the control new. The control is a little stronger and wider than the SL.

The RXL's are holding strong. I will admit that I have not logged a proper amount of miles on them to give my final verdict. My season was interrupted by an overseas deployment with the marine corps. I did get about 1500 miles on them before I departed, 5 cross country races in cat 1 and 2 in the pro/open were in those miles.

I returned in late December and have logged another 500 miles on some trail but mostly road. I am 6'6" and weigh 210, regardless of how smooth I ride, my wheels have a harder life than most. These wheels have stayed true and spoke tension has not changed.

As far as the xxx wheels go, they claim a 190 pound weight limit so hands off for me. The Stan's crests have that weight limit and a lot of the lighter guys ride them full time. I wonder what a replacement xxx wheel would cost. I would look into that. I am a big fan of the hubs and the tubeless system that Bontrager uses. I will keep you guys posted on my RXL's. Please let us know what you end up doing.

Sorry to resurrect an older thread but I'm looking to replace/have a race only set of wheels for my Trek Superfly AL. The mustangs were just fine but I race and I just can't seem to break through despite some of the best fitness/riding I've done. Would the 1 grand be worth the performance gain over the mustangs?

Is it sufficiently faster than the mustang wheels though? If I order the complete RXL the shop I go to can get me a deal.

What level are you riding at?

I would say yes to both - bonty or custom. (I recently had a 2012 Superfly AL Elite that i changed out to hope hubs, crest rims, db spokes and al nipples). do not have notes on weight change - they felt faster = less rotating mass?

You could go to stans wheel weight calculator to come up with wright difference.

At $1k you ARE NOT getting a deal on RXL's. For $1000 you CAN definately get a better or equal wheelset built custom. IMO start with crest rims.

Bonty's LOOK like $1k wheelset with polished hubs and straight pull spokes (pictures on bonty site do not do them justice), while for example, my american classic's in black look stock. Hope has polished or colored hubs.